Cesar Barradas
MPI Chicago Area Chapter
WEC 2018 Scholarship from Wyndham
I feel very honored to be a member of an organization that truly adheres to its values and which has a foundation that supports that mission. “To fuel the growth and advancement of MPI members,” is not just a statement of the purpose of the MPI Foundation it is a guiding mantra that can be felt on all of the efforts the foundation undertakes. Conference Scholarships like these are not only self-transformative, they are investments and commitments to a joint future for our industry and for me as a meetings industry professional. My WEC18 Scholarship gave me the opportunity not only to learn and grow, but also to share and validate the experiences of my fellow attendees. Top quality education should not be a privilege of only those who have the financial capacity to underwrite it, it should be something we all strive to make available to those willing to put in the time and who are committed to the excellence and the values that that education reflects. I am MPI and the experience and education that the MPI Foundation’s WEC 18 scholarship afforded me in Indianapolis, furthered strengthened my why! Thank you very much MPI Foundation!
Like many of my peers, I came to this industry in a non-traditional path, I have a financial services and a technology background and ended up working for my association out of convenience during college, however all of my education and skills have been put to use because our industry uses skills from all other industries and being able to understand what motivates people, from a financial and technology perspective helps me design better overall experiences. I truly believe in the saying that people will forget what you said but not how you made them feel and this industry is about that. Some of the biggest highlights of my career have to do with the conversations and connections I have made with my fellow industry professionals. I have mentors in multiple areas of the industry thanks to events like WEC and my local chapter events and I have been able to make even deeper connections because of those mentors. It is an industry that allows you to contribute your best for the good of the whole and who supports and encourages your growth because it understands that the better, we all do the more opportunities there are for us.
I have no doubt that having been able to attend WEC through the Foundation’s scholarship will have very positive long-term benefits for me. In the short term I have already made some great new connections and have been able to help expand some of my other peers’ networks and connect them to new ideas. The benefit is exponential, hard to quantify, but definitely tangible not only on the reach of my network but also on my ability to better understand more aspects of our industry.
